What to do with all these apples?

The four Visegrad countries (V4) Poland, Hungary, the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic share special relations with Russia, specifically in the areas of security, energy, tourism, investment and trade.

Therefore, the EU sanction regime which was introduced as a reaction to the annexation of Crimea and Russian aggression in Eastern Ukraine, has great significance in the V4 countries. So do the retaliatory bans imposed by Russia.

Different reactions to sanctions regime

Despite their regional similarities, each V4 country faced different problems caused by these trade obstructions. Similarly, each country adopted its own set of policies to react to the new circumstances.

Poland invested in marketing campaigns to reduce its huge apple surplus, while Hungary tried to maintain friendly relations with Russia.

In his study, Kryštof Kruliš, from the Association for International Affairs, portrays current trade developments in the region and examines how EU measures tried to alleviate the impact of the sanctions.